Fire in Salzburg apartment block injures six

A fire in an apartment block in Salzburg’s Lehen district left six people lightly injured on Saturday evening, ORF reported. More than 200 residents briefly left the building and were sheltered in stationary trolleybuses.

The fire is believed to have started in a ground-floor apartment. The room where it broke out was completely destroyed, with the ceiling plaster falling away in temperatures estimated at 600 to 800 degrees, said Salzburg professional fire brigade incident commander Andreas Reitsamer.

Five of the six injured people were taken to the state hospital, said Christoph Fürst, an incident commander with the Red Cross.

The fire was quickly brought under control with support from the Liefering volunteer fire brigade. Firefighters used a thermal imaging camera to check for embers and opened part of the ceiling to make sure the area had cooled.

The cause of the fire has not been established. The apartment where it began and its adjoining rooms are currently uninhabitable, Reitsamer said.